Turning Point USA will hold its first campus event nearly two weeks after the assassination of co-founder Charlie Kirk.
The group confirmed to KMSP-TV in Minneapolis that it will proceed with a sold-out stop of “The American Comeback Tour” at the University of Minnesota on Monday evening.
Conservative commentator Michael Knowles said the event would serve as a powerful tribute.
“There will be an empty chair on stage,” he told “Fox & Friends First.” “I will give a tribute to Charlie, and then we will open up the floor to an open conversation.”
Knowles added, “The event will go on. I think that Charlie’s enemies thought that they could not only silence him, but in fact, silence his whole movement. That will not happen.”
WATCH:
“People who disagree can — like at all of his events — cut to the front of the line, and we will continue to have a healthy debate,” he said.
The Turning Point USA event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. local time at the University of Minnesota. Attendees are required to preregister, be at least 18 years old, and present valid identification for entry.
A separate “Prove Me Wrong” event planned for noon was apparently canceled. The university said additional security measures will be in place for the main gathering.
School President Rebecca Cunningham told the campus community last week, “In addition to the exceptional services our Department of Public Safety oversees every day, the University has policies in place to identify event safety needs and recommend appropriate plans that aim to keep everyone in attendance safe.”
“Violence has no place at the University or in the communities where we live and work,” she added, according to the Western Journal.
A vigil for Charlie Kirk is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the Minnesota State Capitol, KMSP-TV reported.
On Sunday, tens of thousands attended a memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where President Donald Trump spoke alongside Kirk’s widow. In an emotional address, Erika Kirk said she forgave her husband’s killer and pledged to carry on his mission.
News broke last week that former President Joe Biden’s FBI looked into several conservative groups, including Turning Point USA, as part of a larger investigation called “Arctic Frost.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told the Senate Judiciary Committee that operation “Arctic Frost” had become bigger and that whistleblowers had come forward with additional information.
Grassley noted that the operation, which was first set up to examine an alleged campaign to overturn the 2020 election, had grown to include many conservative groups, the Republican National Committee, and others.
He also said that at least one FBI agent had been pleased when they discovered that Trump aide Peter Navarro had been charged with contempt of Congress.
“Arctic Frost was the FBI case opened and approved by anti-Trump FBI agent [Timothy] Thibault. Arctic Frost then became Jack Smith’s elector case against citizen Trump, and now President Trump. These new records show that Arctic Frost was much broader than just an electoral matter,” Grassley said.
“The case was expanded to Republican organizations. Some examples of the group[s] that [Christopher] Wray’s FBI sought to place under political investigation included the Republican National Committee, Republican Attorney General’s Association [sic], and various Trump political groups,” the Iowa Republican added.
“In total, 92 Republican targets, including Republican groups and Republican-linked individuals, were placed under investigative scope of Arctic Frost. On that political list was one of Charlie Kirk’s groups, Turning Point USA. In other words, Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” he said.